About Hurraw!

Hurraw! Balm lives in Whitefish, Montana;  a tiny ski town nestled among the amazing peaks of Glacier National Park.  We started out of pure intent; a personal obsession to create the perfect balm: all natural, vegan, made from premium raw, organic and fair trade ingredients...complete with a bunch of natural and fun flavor options!  It also had to meet some tough criteria...

Criteria:

Super smooth, not draggy, not sticky, not sweet, not too glossy, not too smelly, never grainy, long lasting;  plus, it had to hold up to being in a back jeans pocket all day without melting! It took us several obsessed years to formulate Hurraw! Balm and put it through all the rigors.  We love it, use it, and hope you do too!

Why Hurraw! is unique:

We hand mix and pour each tube of Hurraw! Balm; no filling trays in this studio!  We truly care about the quality and integrity of our product and feel Hurraw! is the finest all natural, vegan, raw balm available...a great product to be used by everyone regardless of lifestyle or eating habits!

Sourcing honest, fair trade, organic, vegan and raw ingredients from reputable suppliers was difficult at best.  We finally did it and we are thrilled to share the labors of our hard work with other balm lovin' individuals.  Your purchase supports legit fair trade, organic farmers and suppliers here in the States and around the world. Thank you!

 

Vegan:

Hurraw! Balm is a Certified Vegan product!  'Vegan' means no animal products (ie: beeswax) are included in our product (nor any animals used/harmed/tested on) in any stage of the manufacture of our product.  This includes all of our suppliers.

Raw:

Hurraw! Balm contains certified organic, raw, cold pressed and centrifuged extracted, nut/seed oils and butters that have been processed below 118F degrees and are still chocked full of their essential nutrients and enzymes.  Your lips will be stoked! 

 

Organic:

Hurraw! Balm contains certified organic ingredients.  However, we choose not to use the USDA Organic Seal on our product until 1.) The USDA and FDA can define and legitimate the National Organic Program guidelines for the cosmetic industry and make it an affordable option for small companies.  2.) The USDA must designate and enforce humane and sanitary methods of treatment for animals raised for food, leather, and other commercial practices.  It's hard for us to support and promote the seal of an agency that doesn't make this a priority and we look forward to the day when it does.

 

Kosher & Gluten Free:

Although Hurraw! balm is not certified Kosher, all of our ingredients are.  Hurraw! balm is also gluten free!

 

Non toxic:

No petroleum, preservatives, artifical flavors or colors.  Did you know the shine in many lipsticks and glosses come from petroleum jelly (a bi-product of oil drilling linked to many health problems including cancer).  A recent statistic showed that over the course of a decade regular users of lip products containing petroleum, can end up ingesting seven pounds of the stuff...essentially it's like drinking gasoline. Ugh.  (source: www.doctoroz.com)   

 

Our Core Ingredients:

almond oil:  Our 100% natural almond oil is pressed in California at a family-run mill from raw almond kernels allowing it to be super fresh and exceptionally rich in nourishing fatty acids. Great for your lips; almond oil moisturizes, softens, soothes, and re-conditions them superbly.

coconut oil:  We now use a raw, organic, fair trade coconut oil direct from Mexico (less travel=less pollution :) that has been extracted using a centrifuged method. This method gently separates fresh coconuts and allows a pure raw oil to be obtained. The result is amazing. Coconut oil is a fabulous moisturizer, a great free radical buster and super soothing for chronic lip inflammation.

cocoa butter: Our natural sourced, fair trade cocoa butter is pressed from the organic raw seeds of the cacao tree. This rich, raw butter from Peru will nourish, soften, soothe and moisturize your lips. Cocoa butter not only improves skin elasticity but smells oh so divine.

jojoba oil: Our organic jojoba oil is cold pressed in California from simmondsia chinensis beans and is actually a "liquid wax."  Jojoba oil's properties are very similar to our skin's own, allowing it to be a deeply absorbed, wonderful moisturizer for the lips.

olive oil: Cold pressed from a fruit and used for over 5000 years...no doubt olive oil is amazing!  Our Californian grown olive oil is rich in antioxidants, vitamins A & E; natural squalene properties moisturize, repair and protect your lips.

castor oil:  A natural emollient from India, our organic, cold pressed, hexane free castor oil makes an excellent protective barrier against harsh conditions. Anti-inflammatory, healing, very soothing and deeply absorbed, it will help your lips stay soft and supple.

candelilla wax:  We use a super high quality candelilla wax that is sustainably wildcrafted from candelilla plants in Mexico. We combine this fabulous wax with our raw / cold pressed oils and butters to provide an excellent long lasting protective shield for your lips.

Infuse:

We make Hurraw! Balm in small, fresh, handcrafted batches. This allows us to infuse our balms with raw seeds, pods, fruit zests, barks and roots for flavor and natural color! It's not a quick process but we think it makes a better balm!  Oh, and those little black specks in the vanilla balm are real vanilla beans. Yum!

 

Oval Tube:

Hurraw! Balm comes in an oval tube for one main reason: so it doesn't escape from the back jeans pocket like our round tubes used to...we also really love applying Hurraw! "ovally!"

 

Recyclable?

Being an Earth conscious company is important to us. Our wholesale packs are made from 100% post-consumer paperboard and we now ship in recycled and recyclable corrugated packaging.  Our new products coming out later in 2011 will be in super easy to recycle aluminium!

Our oval tubes are recyclable #5 plastic.  We realize #5 is a tough one at times to recycle locally.  Please check with your local recycling center about recycling #5 plastics and if they don't recycle #5, encourage them to do so! 

Did you know that almost all screw on plastic bottle caps and prescription bottles are #5 plastic?  There is a huge amount of #5 circulating and a big need for it's recycling.  Preserve's "Gimme 5" program is awesome and they are making it easier then ever to recycle #5.  Check out this link for a location near you!  http://www.preserveproducts.com/recycling/gimme5locations.html

 

SPF balm?

No, not yet. However, we have one in the works and plan on introducing an all natural SPF balm in the coming months. The FDA now considers all cosmetics containing any form of sunscreen to be a drug requiring approved testing before placing it on the consumer market for the proper Sun Protection Factor (SPF) listing. Unfortunately, many products on the market are not tested. We actually think this is a good idea, so customers know exactly what SPF protection they are applying.

Shelf Life:

Cold pressed (raw) oils and butters are room temperature stable but do have a shorter shelf life than oils that are exposed to high heat when processed. Our balms are made without any artificial preservatives and in small batches to keep them fresh but we recommend using your tube of Hurraw! Balm within a year of purchase and storing it between 40-80F (4-27C)

Tea Bag?

That little pouch your balm came in (if purchased direct from our site) is a reusable, unbleached cotton tea bag!  Fill 'er up with herbs and steep some goodness!  

p.s. The dye we use to stamp our tea bags is food safe and permanent.